Y Combinator’s Summer 2019 (YC S19) batch — the biggest one the global platform has had to date — is over following 12 weeks of extensive training and mentorship. 197 startups participated in the Silicon Valley-based accelerator program this year, of which three were from the Middle East & North Africa.
In addition to the state-of-the-art training they received throughout the program, all participants had the chance to demonstrate their innovation and business ideas at a Demo Day earlier this week.
Not just that, the participants also received funding worth $150k in exchange for 7% of equity stake. The 3 startups from MENA who graduated from the program include:
Breadfast (Egypt)
Based and operational in Cairo, Breadfast is a startup that delivers fresh milk, bread, eggs, and other breakfast products to consumers’ doorsteps every morning. The company was launched in 2017 by co-founders Mostafa Amin, Muhammad Habib, and Abdallah Nofal.
Breadfast makes its own bread to maximize the profit margin. The success of the startup can be gauged from its monthly revenue which is believed to be in excess of $180,000 with a gross margin of 35%.
Lezzoo (Iraq)
Lezzoo has the distinction of being the first Iraqi startup to have graduated from the Y Combinator accelerator program. The company offers on-demand delivery service on its home turf, with plans to gradually expand to the rest of MENA with the help of a super-app.
As of today, the startup delivers a wide range of food, grocery, and medicines to five cities including Baghdad, Duthok, Ebril, Sulaymaniyah, and Zakho.
Lezzoo was originally a part of the YC Winter batch from 2019. However, because the company’s founders couldn’t attend the Demo Day back then, the company was allotted a slow in the YC S19 Demo Day.
Trella (Egypt)
Trella is a young online B2B trucking marketplace designed to connect carriers with shippers. Launched in 2018, the startup aims to offer a higher degree of transparency and cost-efficiency in the region’s freight industry.
Trella claims to be the ideal platform from truckers as it ensures them a consistent flow of business all year long. As for shippers, the company claims, they have a lot to gain from the platform’s cost-effective model that brings shipping prices down significantly.
